Organize the Evidence for Thinking through Sources 7

Document Links:

Document 7.1 Resolution to the Pennsylvania Legislature (1791)

Document 7.2 The Pittsburgh Resolution (1794)

Document 7.3 GEORGE WASHINGTON, Proclamation against the Rebels (1794)

Document 7.4 ALEXANDER HAMILTON, Letter to George Washington (August 5, 1794)

Document 7.5 JAMES MADISON, Letter to James Monroe (December 4, 1794)

Organize the Evidence for Thinking through Sources 7

The following exercises provide an opportunity to use the sources collectively to respond to a guiding question.

Guiding Question: What do these documents reveal about how farmers in western Pennsylvania responded to the imposition of a federal excise tax on whiskey, how the United States government responded to their protests, and how the government’s actions impacted the nation’s political life?

Instructions

Below are three topics that might find a place in organizing an essay responding to the guiding question. This exercise asks you to identify which sources would provide relevant evidence for that topic. Select the best answers for each question. Choose ALL that apply. Click the “submit” button for each question to turn in your work.

Question 7.16

1. Which of the sources provide specific evidence about Pennsylvania farmers’ perceptions of and responses to the imposition of an excise tax on whiskey? Choose ALL that apply.

R6Xlb9MAHXF7O4A0MNT1YQ== Document 7.1: Resolution to the Pennsylvania Legislature
R6Xlb9MAHXF7O4A0MNT1YQ== Document 7.2: The Pittsburgh Resolution
kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 7.3: George Washington, Proclamation against the Rebels
R6Xlb9MAHXF7O4A0MNT1YQ== Document 7.4: Alexander Hamilton, Letter to George Washington
kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 7.5: James Madison, Letter to James Monroe
Correct: Document 7.1: This document, created by farmers in response to the tax, expresses their perspective on the issue. Document 7.2: This document, created by farmers in response to the tax, expresses their perspective on the issue. Document 7.4: Alexander Hamilton describes the Pennsylvania farmers’ protests against the tax.
Incorrect: Document 7.3: This document reveals George Washington’s response to the farmers. Document 7.5: This document sheds light on James Madison’s objections to and fears about the Federalists’ response to the rebellion.

Question 7.17

2. Which of these documents provide specific evidence about the U.S. government’s formal response to the Whiskey Rebellion? Choose ALL that apply.

kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 7.1: Resolution to the Pennsylvania Legislature
kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 7.2: The Pittsburgh Resolution
R6Xlb9MAHXF7O4A0MNT1YQ== Document 7.3: George Washington, Proclamation against the Rebels
R6Xlb9MAHXF7O4A0MNT1YQ== Document 7.4: Alexander Hamilton, Letter to George Washington
kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 7.5: James Madison, Letter to James Monroe
Correct: Document 7.3: Washington outlines the illegality of the farmers’ actions and justifies the government’s intention to put down the rebellion. Document 7.4: Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury in George Washington’s administration, describes the rebels’ actions and his own responses to them.
Incorrect: Document 7.1: This document expresses the rebels’ objections to the tax. Document 7.2: This document details the rebels’ plans for protesting the tax.

Question 7.18

3. Which of the following documents provide specific evidence about how the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion affected the political life of the United States? Choose ALL that apply.

kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 7.1: Resolution to the Pennsylvania Legislature
kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 7.2: The Pittsburgh Resolution
kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 7.3: George Washington, Proclamation against the Rebels
kcVtUDKfaIWTKrqEI7di7A== Document 7.4: Alexander Hamilton, Letter to George Washington
R6Xlb9MAHXF7O4A0MNT1YQ== Document 7.5: James Madison, Letter to James Monroe
Correct: Document 7.5: Here, James Madison writes to Monroe to express his opinions about the effects of the suppression of the rebellion on American politics and to describe its implications for the Federalists and the Republicans.
Incorrect: Document 7.1: Written before the suppression of the rebellion, this document does not provide evidence about the impact of its suppression. Document 7.2: Written before the suppression of the rebellion, this document does not provide evidence about the impact of its suppression. Document 7.3: This document explains Washington’s intention to suppress the rebellion. Document 7.4: This document predates the suppression of the rebellion and cannot provide evidence about the impact of that suppression.

Thinking through Sources forExploring American Histories, Volume 1Printed Page 51